'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via this form.
Redirected: Best VPN Black Friday deals 2021: NordVPN, Surfshark, and more available now
Why you can trust ZDNET
ZDNET's reviewers perform extensive testing on the VPNs on this list. We test out connections through different countries, and run speed tests using speedtest.net to measure and compare results. We also test whether the VPN has any DNS leaks while connecting, which would potentially provide information to your ISP or other services about what sites you visit or your originating location or IP address. We evaluate how easy each service is to navigate via website and app, how well it works for streaming content, and its customer service offerings. All of these factors give us a view into how well the VPN works, and how secure it is.
What to Consider
Performance
Simultaneous connections
Security
Kill switch
Geoblocks and streaming
Platforms
Countries and servers
Trial length and price
Cyber Week Guide 2021
Update: Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2021 are done and dusted, so the deals below are no longer valid. Check out our ZDNet Recommends hub for a better look at the latest deals available or ZDNet's 2021 Holiday Gift Guide hub for recommendations on gifts for all.
Over the past months, we've published a lot of useful information about VPNs. But this article is unique. In this article, we're going to do our best to help you save a few bucks. Below are the latest and greatest Black Friday and Cyber Monday VPN deals we've been able to scour from around the net, from the VPN vendors themselves, and from the secret whispers of VPN aficionados pumping as much caffeine into their veins as possible to keep up with their need for bits, all day and all night.
Keep in mind that VPN vendors are aggressive marketeers even outside of the silly season. But when the floodgates open up, they're getting even more enthusiastic. So while there are some not-bad Black Friday and Cyber Monday "deals" presented in this article, keep in mind that most VPN vendors are constitutionally incapable of resisting the urge to offer regular deal promotions, and you might just find good deals during other times during the year.
Terms and conditions
Be very careful about the terms of the deal. VPN vendors have decided to jump on the bandwagon of one of the most reprehensible tactics used by the web hosting business: listing price by month but charging by year, followed by massive jumps in prices when your service automatically renews.
PureVPN, for example, promotes their offering as $2.04 per month, but they actually charge you for 24 months, or $49. Then, when 24 months pass by, they slam you with a $70 bill, bringing your monthly bill from two bucks to nearly six, a three-fold increase. IPVanish's monthly rate jumps from the $3.80/mo promo price to $7.50 per month -- and your card gets hit for $90 all at once.
One of the best ways to take advantage of these promo deals but not get slammed later is to make a calendar entry the month before renewal so you know to cancel the service before you get slammed. Since there's nothing to lock you into a VPN service (they all do basically the same stuff), you can jump onto the next service with a good deal when renewal time comes around.
So, I've listed these in order of cheapest per month to most expensive but beware of the surge with all those caveats.
AtlasVPN
Pay now: $50 for three years
- How they pitch it: 3-yrs plan for $1.39/mo + 3 months Free
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Auto-renew: Yes, the price skyrockets to $47.83 per year
They say you need the coupon code BLACKFRIDAY, but I just went to their site and hit their big Black Friday banner. The deal here is good on a per-month basis, but put that renewal date in your calendar for three years from now. Otherwise, you'll be slammed paying three times more when it renews.
This is a middle of the road VPN with support for just Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android. But it has one thing going for it: you can use it on all your devices. There's no 5 device limit, like is the case for many other vendors.
Private Internet Access
Pay now: $79 for three years
- How they pitch it: $2.03/mo for 3 years + 3 free months
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Auto-renew: Yes, the price goes stratospheric at $388.05 for three years
When I did my review of PIA, I found a capable VPN for a reasonable price. It had some nice add-on features like a malware scanner and tracker disabling. The interface was clean, and except for connecting to certain countries, it worked well.
Our review: Private Internet Access review: A cheap, powerful VPN
But holy heck, Batman! Jumping from a $79 bill to a sudden, almost $400 bill in four years. Wow. Yes, most credit cards will expire, but if your number is the same, they're going to try to hit up your card for a whopping payout. Honestly, I can't imagine the customer service is worth this tactic, but as you've seen, they all do it.
PureVPN
Pay now: $49 for 24 months
- How they pitch it: $2.04/mo for 24 months
- Money-back guarantee: 31 days
- Auto-renew: Yes, the price balloons to $70 per year
These folks are running one of those annoying countdown clocks on their page as if they won't take your order after the deadline. They're also trying to virtue signal by offering a 31-day money-back guarantee while everyone else is offering 30. Whether 30 or 31 days, it's on you to test your purchase to be sure it does what you need.
PureVPN allows 10 devices, and it supports a pretty wide range of devices. Beyond that, it offers the usual features, ranging from kill switch to split tunneling and even a fixed IP as an upsell for business buyers. Back in 2018, we ran an article about IP leaks, but all indications are they've fixed those problems since then.
Surfshark
Pay now: $59.76 for 27 months
- How they pitch it: $2.21/mo for 24 months + 3 free months
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Auto-renew: Yes, the price might bump up
The Surfshark marketing folks are going to town with the large fonts and Black Friday animations. They have a countdown clock, an announcement about a price drop where the word "drop" actually drops, and even a spinning, flashing, 200 point "Ultimate". So, they really want you to buy.
Our review: Surfshark VPN review: It's cheap, but is it good?
It looks like your bill will double once the promo runs out. They say, "59.76 billed now, then annually starting after 27 months." So keep that in mind and make a note in your calendar if you want to cancel.
IPVanish
Pay now: $38 for 12 months
- How they pitch it: $3.20/mo for 12 months
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Auto-renew: Yes, the price explodes to $90/year!!
The most important thing is to watch out for that automatic billing hit. $90 a year is a big jump, and it's among the most expensive we've seen for any services that bill for more than one month.
Our review: IPVanish review: A VPN with a wealth of options
That said, I gave it a pretty positive review. Although some conditions apply, the service offers unlimited connections, and they have quite a lot of clients they support. I was pretty bullish on the features but wasn't entirely sure I'd want to use the service if I was hiding from a government or otherwise wanted to secure my privacy completely.
NordVPN
Pay now: $79 for 24 months
- How they pitch it: $3.29/mo for 24 months
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Auto-renew: Yes, the price might bump up
Nord is also rocking a countdown clock. The VPN vendors love this kind of involvement device because it helps create a sense of urgency among prospects. It's kind of Marketing 101, applied to service sales.
As you can see, I've spent quite a bit of time getting to know the service and the company. The deal they're offering isn't the best, but six simultaneous connections are generally pretty workable. Overall, the company's performance was consistent among the VPNs I've tested, and you could do worse than choosing this vendor.
Also read:
ProtonVPN
Pay now: $120 for 24 months
- How they pitch it: $4.99/mo for 24 months
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Auto-renew: Yes, the price jumps to $160 for 2 years
Here's a note for US-based customers who might be confused. When you click into the company's promo page for Black Friday, you're taking to Euros-based pricing. Hit the little USD menu item under the middle deal to get dollar-based pricing. Interestingly, they charge the same digits (5.99) in both Euros and dollars, but €5.99 is about $6.82, so you're actually saving money if you buy with dollars.
As for how many simultaneous connections they allow, I have no idea; I've looked all over their site and sent out a query to the company but haven't heard back. I'll update this if I find out. Beyond that, the company has been working hard on a speed upgrade, which we reported earlier this year.
I get a lot of questions about VPNs, and I've answered many of them in the articles below. They're definitely worth your time if you're on the fence about what a VPN can do for you.